Legend of MiddleEarth: Beren and Luthien
by samsquared
Summary: In depth retelling of the story of Beren
1. Barahir

The Silmarillion

The Tale of Beren and Lúthien

In the dark days of Middle-Earth and the war of the Silmarils against Morgoth, the god of darkness, a light of hope came to Men, Elves and Dwarves. Our story begins in the land of Dorthonion, where Barahir the Man refused to be defeated by the Orcs, who hunted him with the intentions to kill him, and he and his twelve companions were on the run…

I

Barahir ran through the forest of Dorthonion. He could hear the sound of the Orcs behind him, getting closer, needing to quench their bloodthirstiness. He dashed through a clump of trees and darted past a rock. The memories flashed back through his mind on how he got to where he was now…

Barahir and his band of twelve outlaws were one of Middle-Earth's hopes against the dark army of Morgoth. The war had been kindled when he stole the holy jewels known as the Silmarils from the Noldor Elves. The Noldor had blamed the gods and set out to reclaim the Silmarils from Morgoth, but they were utterly defeated, and the leader of the Noldor, Fĕanor, was killed. The gods then requested that the Silmarils be retrieved from Morgoth's stronghold of Angband, and the Elves, Men, and Naugrim, or Dwarves as they are commonly called, went to a long war against Morgoth and the Orcs. Barahir and his twelve outlaws were one of the great fighting forces of the Men of Dorthonion against the Orcs.

Earlier that year, his band and he had eavesdropped on a band of Orcs, and they heard that Morgoth's second in command, a maia, or spirit named Sauron had ordered that all the Orcs in the vicinity search for Barahir and kill him if found. His outlaws and him then took refuge in a cave near the lake of Tarn Aeluin, a lake steeped in legend, for it was said that Melian, a maia who now sat as queen next to Thingol, the king of the Sindar Elves, had hallowed the lake. Barahir and his outlaws stayed in that cave for years, and Sauron's forces never found them.

One of the twelve outlaws of Barahir was a man named Gorlim. Gorlim was married to a woman named Eilinel, and he worried about her whenever he was gone from her, for Orc raids were frequent in Dorthonion. On the day they returned to their village, they saw that it had been sacked. Gorlim ran to the house of Eilinel, and found their house ransacked. She was not there. Gorlim didn't know whether she was killed or kidnapped. The outlaws camped near the ransacked town. On the fourth day of their stay, Gorlim went to visit the house again. He saw a light in the window, and what might have looked like Eilinel was in it. He went up to the window, but then he felt a strong grip as an Orc leader brought him to Sauron who was in the house. The Eilinel was an illusion. "Have him tortured," commanded Sauron, and Ourcs proceeded to do so. After it was done, Sauron said, "So, now that you have been tortured, tell us the whereabouts of Barahir and his outlaws." Gorlim however, did not speak. They had him tortured profusely, but he would not tell. So Sauron then said, "If you cooperate with us we will give Eilinel back to you, and leave you in peace ever afterwards." This struck Gorlim, for he longed for his wife more than ever.

"Alright," he said. "Barahir has made camp at the outskirts of this village." So Sauron stood and ordered Gorlim to lead them to the camp. But when they got there, they saw that the rest had already left. So Gorlim led them to the cave at Tarn Aeluin. So the Orcs had chased Barahir out of the cave and through the woods, and then Sauron said to Gorlim, "By the way, I must tell you, Eilinel is dead."

"What?" exclaimed Gorlim.

"But I will have you meet her again," said Sauron. Then he took his sword and ran it through Gorlim's chest, and he fell dead. "In the afterlife," Sauron finished.

Barahir tripped on a rock jutting out of the ground. He heard an Orc bark something, and a net fell over him. This was surely the end.


	2. The Revenge

II

Beren was having a strange dream. He was in a place shrouded by mist, and it was so misty that he could hardly see three feet ahead. He moved along, trying to make something out of the mist. It suddenly cleared, and he saw a great tree, and giant birds were perched in it. He looked closer, and saw that their beaks were dripping with blood. Next to the tree there was a river, and a man came to him across it. Beren looked closer and saw that it was Gorlim.

"Beren, beware," said Gorlim. "For I have betrayed your father Barahir. You must make haste to Tarn Aeluin, for even now he's being hunted by the Orcs." Beren woke immediately. He was in a field in the middle of the night. Across the field was his hometown, and further on was the forest. He packed his things and rushed to the forest. He gasped in amazement. The town had been ransacked, and it was deathly quiet. He rushed through the town and into the forest. He came to the cave at Tarn Aeluin, but there was no one in it. So he went further into the forest in search of his father and his men.

Then he came across the body. He father lay dead, impaled by a spear. He took the body and buried it.

"I swear," he said. "that I will have my revenge against Sauron and the Orcs, if it's that last thing I do!" And there he spotted footprints, footprints of Orcs, and he followed them.

He spotted the Orcish camp at Rivl's Well, above the Fen of Serech. The Orcs were sitting around a fire, and the head Orc spoke, "Look at dis!" He held up a disembodied hand. "I chopped dis off o' Barahir's corpse and I'm keeping id as a trophy. Whaddaya think o' that, eh?" Beren looked closely, and saw that on the hand was a ring. Beren remembered that ring, for it was the ring of Felagund. He then sprang up and, taking his sword, slew the Orc leader, grabbed the hand, and sprinted off into the forest before the Orcs could figure out what happened.

And for four more years Beren dwelt in the cave near Tarn Aeluin in the forest of Dorthonion. He eradicated any attempted Orcish incursions before they got into full swing. He came to know the birds and beast of the forest, and because of this he went on a strict vegetarian diet. His fame spread throughout Doriath and Beleriand, and even Morgoth and Sauron knew of him.

In Angband, Morgoth's fortress, Morgoth and Sauron counseled on what they should do about Beren.

"This Beren could become quite a threat to our winning of the war," said Sauron.

"That's true," said Morgoth. "But he is merely a minor threat, a fly to be swatted. Are you sure he is that much a threat?"

"My lord, all my Orc battalions run away at his mention than try to find him face to face," said Sauron. Morgoth thought. Finally he answered.

"Send some werewolves after him. He shouldn't be able to survive that," said Morgoth. "I will lend to you a select few from Angband's own army. Do not return to Angband until you have eradicated this threat." And Sauron knew that he meant it.


End file.
